A Grary Story
by eble10
Summary: A MaryxGray fanfiction. Complete. R&R, please!
1. Chapter 1

**Harvest Moon**

**Gray & Mary's Story**

Chapter One

Mary was sitting alone at her desk one day scribbling away at her book-in-progress, molding characters and organizing the plot. She was alone in the library, at her desk. Nobody ever came to the library so she was completely alone and worked tirelessly on the few sheets of lined paper in front of her. She was so engulfed in her work she didn't notice the young man open the door.

"Hello?" He said quietly.

Mary jumped, falling out of her chair. Papers flew everywhere. She stumbled to get up, adjusting her glasses and fixing her black hair to study the man in front of her.

He wore a khaki outfit, had light auburn hair which was mostly concealed by a large UMA hat. Mary could tell he was handsome even though the shadow his hat produced covered most of his face. He didn't seem the type of person that would smile much. He was clearly shy, like Mary.

"Sorry, sorry…" she mumbled reaching down to pick up her book-in-progress. The young man bent down to help, handing her the sheets of paper he held. "Thank you. I'm sorry, what are you looking for?" she asked; typical librarian question.

"I… um… just was looking for something to read…" he mumbled. "I'm Gray. I don't think I know you."

"Mary," She said stacking the book-in-progress on her desk. "The fiction section is upstairs. The nonfiction section is down here." She said, pointing. Gray looked in amazement of the wide selection of books. "Thanks." He muttered heading upstairs.

Gray brought his book downstairs and settled at the table across the room. If he turned his head a little bit to the left, he could see Mary hard at work on her book-in-progress. She had pretty long black hair, braided at the moment. She had large glasses and wore a blue dress over a blouse. Gray smiled to himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Hey, Mary."

"Hello, Gray."

"Do you have any suggestions today?"

"Well…" she said, pulling out a hardcover book. It looked old. "This is one of my favorites… I thought you'd like it too." She handed him the book, carefully leaning over her book-in-progress so he wouldn't see it.

"Thanks." Said Gray, shuffling over to the table. He opened the book, coughing as an unexpected rain of dust exploded in his face. "Augh!"

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Mary's cheeks flushed pink. "I guess I haven't read it in awhile…"

"It's *cough* okay." Gray shook his head so the dust fell to the floor. He turned a few pages and dropped the book in surprise at all the dust pouring out. "What the hell--?"

Mary blushed harder. "That's strange… I c-could've s-sworn that I g-gave you… oh wait, I think I gave you the wrong b-book."

Gray's ears turned red. "Where's the broom?"

"No, really, you don't have t-too…"

"I want to. Where is it?"

Mary wordlessly pointed to the closed under the stairs. She watched as Gray bent over and swept the dust pile, coughing in the process. She quickly looked away toward the window at the beautiful spring. It was nearly summer and it already started to get warmer. Mary looked down at her book-in-progress and started to write again as Gray put the dustpan away.

Gray had been visiting the library almost daily. He would often ask Mary for a book suggestion and read what she gave him. He'd smile a little, and nod, and sit down with the book. Mary would blush when he wasn't looking; flattered he'd taken her opinion seriously.

Every time Gray sat down, he'd glance back over at Mary, taking papers out of hiding and turning pinkish. He'd feel joy run through his blood and he'd smile quietly.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"Mary?"

Mary looked up from her book-in-progress, sort of surprised to see Gray standing there, about to ask her something. He looked nervous, and he kept fixing his hat. "Yes?"

"I just wanted… to ask… you… um, this is kind of weird, so… um…" his ears turned tomato red. Gray stared at his shoes. _Just say it,_ he thought. _Tell her. Take her hand. Be ROMANTIC._ Gray's head pounded with stress as he almost lifted his hand from the safety of his pocket.

"Gray? What's the matter?"

"Uh, I was j-just wondering… what are you writing all the time?" He blurted. _Idiot!_

Mary blinked in surprise. It seemed like a heck of a lot of embarrassment for such a simple question. Nevertheless, she was still reluctant to answer. But she could trust him by the look in his eyes.

"It's a… a story I'm writing." She said, blushing and looking up for his reaction.

Gray was mentally kicking himself. "That's really cool." He hesitated. "Can I… Read it some time?" _Better luck next time, Romeo._

Mary blushed violently so that her face and neck were completely neon red. "Uh,"

"No, it's okay, if you're not comfortable with it, then…"

She smiled up at him and said, "When I finish it, okay?"

Her smile sent an electrocution up his back. He smiled his little Gray smile back. Then he turned and headed up the stairs to get a book and collect his head.

_You moron! That was your chance! Now you've gone and screwed everything up. Nice job. FAN FREAKIN TASTIC. Now she's going to go fall in love with some other guy because you couldn't muster up enough courage to ask her for a walk, or tell her you like her. Great. Just great._

Gray shuffled along the bookshelves until he found a decent looking book about fishing or something. He took it downstairs after some serious deep breaths.

Mary was all flustered. She was certain that he wasn't going to ask her about the book, but ask her on a date. She decided he never asked a girl out before and was a little unsure. Mary herself has never been on a date. She imagined her and Gray on a date. What would they talk about? She sighed and told Gray it was closing time and that he had to go. She watched him walk away.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

_Just as the prince was reaching for the beautiful golden-haired princess, he slipped and fell to his doom._

What would a gold-haired girl look like anyways? Why did she have to have gold hair?

_The princess cried out in despair, looking down heartbroken as the Prince landed in the clutches of the witch._

In some stories, witches were actually cool.

"_My prince!" she cried, "My love!"_

She barely knows him. I bet they never had a conversation in their lives.

_The witch cast a spell on the prince so he could never return to the castle where the princess was being held. The loves could never be joined again._

Mary sighed, putting the book down. She already had read a million books, just like that one. She knew how it ended. She knew how the climax and falling action were going to be like. No point in reading any more.

She looked over at Gray. He was engulfed in his book, oblivious to her watching him. Mary picked up the book and began to fan herself. It was mid-summer and she felt like she was melting. Oddly enough, she had recently developed a tingly feeling in the pit of her stomach every time Gray walked in. She felt her cheeks turn pink every time he adjusted his hat. She wasn't sure what the feeling was.

Gray was feeling the same way. He got the itchy feeling inside and felt his palms sweat when he approached the library, knowing Mary was waiting for him inside. _She looks nice today,_ he'd think.

One exceptionally hot day, when Gray was reading quietly and Mary was scribbling away in her messy writing, Jack walked in.

Mary and Gray had met him separately for a fleeting moment when he was introducing himself around town. Neither of them thought much of him.

"Hey," he said now, heading for the ranching section (which was quite small) of the library. Mary nodded to him and Gray ignored him.

When Jack had a book in his hands, he went over to Mary, completely confident, and put something on her desk. When she looked up, she noticed it was a small bunch of wild grapes. She lifted her head to look at Jack, who was smiling brightly. She pushed her glasses up her nose.

"What are these for?" she asked. Everyone gave her a gift for a reason.

Jack gave her a cheesy smile and shrugged. "Nothing really. I just wanted to give you something."

Gray tightened his grip on the book he was reading.

"Oh. Well, thank you very much. I do like grapes." Mary stated quietly.

"Cool, then I'll bring you some tomorrow, okay?"

Mary nodded.

"Great! See you then!" he turned to leave, book in hand.

"Wait, you have to check that out—"

The door slammed shut.

Mary and Gray sat in silence before Gray said, jealousy in his tone, "Idiot."

_Oh please, _Gray thought, _He did a better job at charming her than you did. You can barely talk to the girl and he's giving her presents. Presents she likes, too. Damn Jack. _


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

It occurred to Gray that his thoughts had turned against him.

The first hint was that they always told him how lame he was at romancing Mary. Second, they called him names. Third, they always said, "You". Normally people referred to themselves as "I".

The thoughts could be helpful, like tips and such, but Gray set his controllable thoughts separate from the nagging voice. He felt as if he was going crazy, but reassured himself that it was just because of the jealousy he felt.

Jack not only came by the next day, but also every day after that so Mary would have to keep the time close by so she could be prepared. She would eat the grapes in the end, sharing some with a slightly reluctant Gray. They were delicious, but Mary was uncomfortable with the constant giving. Jack needed to back off.

He also would bring her flowers. This was so unexpectedly romantic and caring; Mary would have to accept them because he would go through all that trouble to find them. After he left (he stayed only long enough to give her a gift) Mary would always sigh and shake her head. She wasn't at all attracted to Jack.

Gray didn't have a clue. He thought Mary was falling for Jack.

The night of the fireworks on the 24th was a big event for all of them. Both Jack and Gray wanted to watch them with Mary but only one had the courage to do it.

Gray thought at first that he had plenty of time, but before he knew it he was on the beach walking up to Mary to ask her. _Hurry up before Jack gets there, quick! _The voice said. _Of course she'd say yes to him… he gave her all those gifts… Dammit!_

Jack beat him to it. "Hey, Mary! I'm so glad you decided to come!" Jack said, shooting a flirty smile. "Want to watch the fireworks with me? It'll be fun!"

Time seemed to slow down painfully. _Say no, please goddess, say no!_

"I-I'm sorry, but I don't really feel comfortable watching them w-with you…"

_YES! THIS IS YOUR CHANCE! DON'T LET ME DOWN!_

Jack, heartbroken turned away. He then saw a lonely looking Karen standing all alone, obviously waiting for Rick. Jack healed up quick and went to the next victim. "Hey Karen!"

This was his chance. Blood pounded in his ears, cold sweat emerged on his forehead and palms, his ears went red, his knees rattled, and his heart was beating so loud he was sure she could hear it—but this was _his chance_.

"…Mary?"

She spun around, relieved to see it wasn't Jack back for another attack. It was Gray. Her heart burst.

"Uh, I was just wondering… Would you… want to… uh, watch the, um, fireworks w-with m-me?"

Mary screamed internally so loud she thought she would collapse. She had to answer. "I would l-love to."

_Nice! You did it! Give yourself a pat on the back my friend; you've achieved your goal of the night! I'll leave you two alone._

The voice disappeared as Gray stepped forward to stand next to Mary. Mary turned pink. Gray still had red ears, but he was so relieved he relaxed a little. Mary looked so pretty; simple short sleeved pastel blue dress. Average in Mary's mind, beautiful in Gray's mind.

As they stood gazing at the fireworks, Gray turned to Mary to say something, but as he looked at her, her head leaned way back to watch the fireworks, careful braid over one shoulder, flashing lights reflected off her huge glasses, and mouth open in awe, he decided silence was best for now.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Mary was so happy.

Gray walked her home after the fireworks and bid her goodnight before he turned down the road to the Inn, because his grandpa's shop could only hold one person, that being his grandpa.

Mary had never felt like this before. There was always a longing in the pit of her stomach for Gray to walk through the door, or materialize next to her. She wanted to be with him. But she was way too shy to say anything.

Gray felt the same way. He was pretty proud of himself for watching the fireworks with her. He couldn't get her image from his head.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

One day, Mary decided to pay the blacksmith a visit.

She told herself she was just thanking them for upgrading one of her dad's tools, but in her head she was singing because she was going to see Gray.

Mary opened the door and walked up to Saibara.

"Hello!"

"Mary! How nice of you to visit. Can I do anything for you today, Miss?"

"No, actually I just came by to thank you for the tool you upgraded for my father."

"How nice. You can tell him—"

"Ouch!" Gray dropped what he was doing and clutched at his hand.

He looked at the surprised faces of his grandpa and Mary and blushed. "It's only a scratch."

"Let me see," Mary said, turning pink. "I'll bandage it for you."

"N-no, it's fine—"

Mary took his hand quickly, causing Gray to shut up. _She's holding your hand; she's holding your hand!_

"You're bleeding!" Mary looked at him quickly before she bandaged the cut up.

"Thanks." Gray muttered, stretching his fingers in the tight bandage.

"I'll see you at the library." Mary smiled.

"Okay." Gray murmured.

"Thanks for stopping by, Mary." Saibara smiled back.

When Mary walked out the door, Saibara turned to his blushing grandson.

"She's a very nice girl, don't you think?"

"Yeah." Gray had a feeling where this was going.

"Why don't you ask her out or something? She'd probably be happy you did. She must be lonely in that library all the time."

Gray sighed loudly. "What makes you think she'd say yes?"

The old blacksmith laughed. "Well, it's worth a try."

_Huh. The old man may have a point. Ask her out. What harm could it do?_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The rain was coming down hard the second Mary woke up. It was supposed to rain like this all day. The townspeople were stuck indoors.

That didn't stop Jack. It was two days after he was rejected and he was furious. Karen, Popuri, Ann, and Elli also told him no. He had been giving them gifts, too, and it didn't seem fair that they'd rather watch the fireworks with someone else.

He wanted revenge.

Mary was sitting in her library, wrapped in a jacket. The chill from the rain forced her to take it out. She shivered as she opened the book on her lap, relaxing.

Jack pushed open the door. Mary took one look at him and she could tell he was crazy mad.

She never knew he was so hot-headed.

Jack walked right up to her and pounded his fist on the desk. "YOU BITCH!"

Mary let out a tiny scream, but was speechless otherwise.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE SO MUCH BETTER THAN I AM?"

Mary felt tears prick her eyes as she shook her head. She was so terrified.

"YOU KNOW WHAT? SCREW YOU. SCREW GRAY! I'm leaving!"

Jack turned with a huff. Then he spun unexpectedly, walked right up to Mary, and punched her in her eye.

It was so forceful, so painful, and so surprising Mary fell out of her seat and landed on the floor. Her glasses skidded across the floor. She heard a crunch as Jack stepped on them. "You won't expect any more gifts from me." Jack said with an evil grin on his face. He turned and walked out.

Mary sat up. Her eye hurt so bad she was crying. Mary felt around blindly for her glasses, only to find them broken beyond repair. Everything looked like smudges of color, all blotchy and squished. She managed to climb back onto her chair and dig through her desk drawers, but she couldn't seem to find her replacement glasses.

She was still digging, her broken glasses on her desk, when she heard the door open.

"Mary?"

That voice… "Gray? Is that you?" she squinted at him, barely making out the blue squash that was his hat.

_Her face. _"Mary! Are you hurt?"

"N-no. I'm fine I just… fell."

_Someone hit her. _"How did your glasses break?"

"I- I- I- I don't know."

_They were stepped on. _"Are you okay?"

"Uh, yes…"

_She's an awful liar._ "Let me get you some ice."

"Thank you…"

Gray's thoughts haunted him as he filled a bag with ice at the inn. _Someone hit her. Someone stepped on her glasses. It was Jack._

Gray held the ice to her face as Mary cried in pain. She kept her mouth shut but the tears wouldn't stop running.

"Where is he?"

Mary looked at him in surprise. "Who?"

"Jack. I need to find him, now."

"N-n-no he d-d-didn't d-do anything…"

"You are the worst liar I've ever met."

Mary began to sob. "I'm s-so-sorry!"

Gray reached forward and embraced her in an awkward hug. It was touching, it its own strange way.

Gray stood and left. Mary was sitting quietly as she whispered a little "Thank you, Gray."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Mary fidgeted in her seat. She had found her replacement glasses and could see properly. But one thing still nagged her. Why had Gray left? Why did he need to find Jack?

Gray pushed the farmhouse door open. Jack stood inside his house, waiting.

She couldn't take it anymore. She had to find him. Pulling a jacket on, Mary sprinted out into the storm.

Jack narrowed his eyes as a sopping wet Gray leaked water into his house. The two glared at each other.

Mary jogged down the road, praying that Gray wasn't going to hit Jack.

Gray walked up to Jack, silent. His hand balled into a fist.

She was so close. She knew she had to stop this. Why would Gray want to get himself wrapped up in this mess?

Gray's attacks came as a surprise to Jack. Gray threw his punches hard and never missed once.

"GRAY!" Mary had never screamed so loud in her life. Gray turned to see a soaked Mary standing there, her black eye worse. She was breathing hard from running. Gray looked down at Jack, who had fallen to the ground. He looked up at Gray.

"I'm leaving this damn town." He whispered. He could barely speak. "You people are crazy."

Mary grabbed at Gray's arm as tears rolled down her face. "Please, can we go?"

Gray nodded, still silent. The two walked slowly to the Mary's house, where there were towels. Mary clung to Gray's arm the whole way.

"Gray… Gray, you hit him for m-me?" she whispered.

Gray looked down at her. The black eye looked sadly up at him. He could see Jack's face, laughing at him. He could see Jack throwing a punch at Mary. He could see Jack's foot crunching the glasses. He scrunched the towel up in his hands as he replaced his hat on his damp hair.

"Yeah."

Mary looked up at him. She was touched. No boy had ever hit someone for her. She felt bad for Jack, but her throbbing eye told her otherwise. She reached up to touch it, wincing before retrieving some ice. Gray had left when she turned around. He had had too much.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Mary and Gray had vowed to never speak of Jack again. Jack had moved out of his farm and it went up for sale.

Mary's black eye had healed soon enough. She claimed it didn't even hurt anymore. Gray still felt a pang of hurtful remembrance whenever he looked at her eye. She constantly told him it wasn't his fault but he still blamed himself for not being there.

"Good morning, Gray."

"Hi Mary."

Gray took the book Mary left out for him to read. He had just settled down when the door burst open.

"Hello?" said a girl's voice.

Mary looked up from her book to see a pretty girl with blonde hair. She wore overalls and a big smile.

"Hello, I don't think I know you." Mary said politely. "I'm Mary. What's your name?"

"Claire. It's nice to meet—" She glanced over her shoulder to see Gray sitting there, ignoring her, totally into his book. "—you." Claire paused, drinking in the sight of Gray reading. Then she snapped back to a slightly confused Mary. "I'm the new farmer. Have you heard about me?"

Mary smiled. "So they finally sold the farm. Well, I wish you luck."

"Yeah, thank you, Mary. I'll be back to visit. Bye!"

"Goodbye."

Gray glanced up from his book for a fleeting second before reading again. _What a strange girl._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"See you tomorrow, Mary."

"Bye, Gray."

Gray half waved as he closed the door behind him. _Hmm. You haven't talked much to Mary lately. _Said The Voice. _You could ask her out or something. It's like the whole Jack thing screwed you up. So, I was thinking—_

"Gray! Gray!"

"Huh?"

Claire bounced up to him. "Hey, you remember me, right? The library… two hours ago…"

"Yeah, sure." Gray mumbled. She interrupted his thoughts.

"Well, I was thinking, maybe we could do something together, you know, as friends? Maybe go out to eat or something." Claire was beaming at him, willing for him to say yes.

"Uh, sorry, but um, I have to, go…"

"Oh, c'mon!"

"No thanks. I promised Cliff I'd buy food tonight."

"Please-please-please-please-please?!"

"I can't."

"Fine. Be that way."

She shuffled away, grumpy. "It's Mary." She groaned to herself quietly. "He so loves her. I'll have to change that…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next morning at the library, Mary heard the door open and close as a little early autumn chill rush in.

"Hey, Mary? Can I ask you something?" Gray stood next to Mary's desk.

She looked up. Those big, brown eyes were looking right up at him curiously. Gray's heart stuttered.

"Well, I, uh, was thinking, uh, maybe you would, uh, walk with me on Monday to Mother's Hill? I know it's your day off and you like to walk so I thought…"

"I'd love to."

Gray looked directly into her eyes as she said this, smiling. Gray smiled too. _YES! It's a da-a-ate!_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

When Monday came around, Gray got up to meet Mary by the library. They agreed to meet at eight in the morning.

Luckily for Gray, his grandpa cut him some slack and let him take Monday off instead of Thursday.

"Ready to go?"

Gray looked up from his shoes to lock eyes with Mary who smiled at him at tugged at his arm gently. The two turned and began to walk down the road.

"My parents are shopping today instead." Mary said, making conversation. "They won't be coming."

Gray grunted, suddenly nervous. What if he acts like a fool? What if she laughs in his face?

"Is… is something wrong, Gray?" Gray looked down at a worried Mary.

Mary blushed and looked away. "Sorry, I was just…"

"It's fine. I'm just a little tired." Gray mumbled.

The two walked in silence. Both were nervous. Both were racking their brains as to what to say.

"OH MY GOD! Gray! What are you doing here?!"

Gray groaned. Claire flounced up the road, nearly knocking Mary off her feet.

"Ha! This is SO funny! I was just on my way to see you! Well, I guess I can--"

"Sorry, I'm busy." Gray cut her off.

"Oh. Well, I'll catch you later, okay?" Claire said, clearly upset she got turned down. How did Gray know she was going to ask him out?

As soon as Claire skipped off up the road, Mary's face was bright red. Gray would rather spend the day with her, Mary, than beautiful, peppy, talkative Claire. Mary was singing inside.

"She's a spaz." Gray announced.

Mary giggled.

The two continued to make their way up the road. When they exited the town, Gray felt a wave of bravery as he pulled his hand from his pocket to reach down and take Mary's hand in his own.

Her hand was so small and fragile, soft and perfect. Gray felt his face turn pink. Mary's pretty much was red already so it couldn't get darker than that. Gray's hand was big and rough, but nice.

The two made it to the top of Mother's Hill, hand in hand. They stood, gazing over the beautiful landscape. They were breathing hard from the march up the hill, and felt a chill because it was autumn. The trees were a colorful wave of oranges, reds, yellows, browns, and golds. Mary gasped at how beautiful this all was, absorbing the sight of it and putting it to memory. She never got tired of things like this, nature's beauty.

Gray was amazed at how this all looked. Breathtaking, he decided. Perfect.

He looked down at Mary, who was trying to take it all in at once. _This is your chance. _The Voice told him. _Carpe Diem, seize the day._

Gray reached down to cup Mary's cheek in his hand. She looked up at him, surprised. No boy had ever held her cheek, but she knew what was coming.

Gray slowly leaned forward and kissed Mary, right there on Mother's Hill, second of autumn, first day where their lives would intertwine and hold place there, in each other's arms.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**A/N: Just wanted to say that 'kissed' is the 500****th**** word in this chapter! :D **

**(I thought it was kind of cool.)**

**There will be two or three more chapters. They are important ones. Claire is still there, right? I have to write her in there. **


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

It was autumn 3rd, the music festival. Mary was nervous as she paced around the library, wringing her hands. She plays the organ every year and every year she worries about making mistakes. She especially thought she'd mess up this year because her thoughts keep referring back to her new blacksmith boyfriend.

The day flew by and before she knew it, Mary was standing outside the church, watching as Gray walked up the road with his grandpa happily waving at her. She smiled and waved nervously back.

When she told him about her nervousness, he just laughed and said she'd be fine, she always does fine, and why would it be any different this year? Mary sighed. Perhaps he was right.

The two pushed the church doors open, revealing half the town waiting around. All the girls who were playing instruments sat up front. Mary left Gray to join them.

Mary sat down next to Elli who was giggling away with Ann. Mary sat alone, feeling excluded until Karen plopped down next to her and gave her a friendly smile.

"Hey, Mary! I haven't seen you around lately. Spending time at the library?"

Mary nodded, looking at Karen. She and Karen were sort of friends, speaking to each other now and then. Mary was just glad she had someone to sit next to. The two struck up conversation, talking about this and that.

The church doors burst open and a blonde head appeared. "I'm sorry I'm late, but we can begin now!" Claire burst out.

Carter nodded and motioned for the girls to take their places. Mary was so grateful to have her back to the audience. She pulled her hair back in a simple ponytail before sitting at the old bench with her fingers placed on the keys. Carter went to sit down with the townspeople, who all had made it to the church on time.

Claire was holding the ocarina, playing decently, Elli and Ann were doing nicely on their flutes, and Karen's voice sang out clear and beautiful over the people. Everything was going fine.

When the song came to a close and Mary played the last few notes, the townspeople erupted into applause. Mary blushed and kept her back turned till she felt a tug on her sleeve and was forced to turn around and curtsey.

Gray was walking Mary home when Claire popped in front of them, as if from nowhere. "Hi there!"

She glanced down at the couples' hands, which were intertwined. Mary's face was red.

"Uh, well. Do you mind if I walk with you?" Claire smiled, but her eyes were hard.

Gray looked at her as if she was crazy. "Why?"

"You know what? I'll walk Mary home. You just run along now, Gray." Claire flashed a smile at him, ignoring his question.

The two didn't want to be rude, so Gray pecked Mary on the cheek before turning down the road to walk with his grandpa.

The sun had set, and it was late. Mary's watch told her it was eleven.

"Mary. I noticed you and Gray…?"

Mary nodded. "Yesterday we… we became a couple."

"I see." There was a pause as the girls began to walk.

"Are you jealous?" Mary asked.

Claire glared up at her in surprise. "Jealous of you? No, no. I just thought Gray liked me, you know. I was going to ask him out and all… but you sort of… took him from me. I'm sorry, this is kind of rude. Gray was going to be my boyfriend, I'm sure he liked me, and I adore him. I just…" She babbled.

"Gray asked me out. If he still liked you he wouldn't do that."

"Yeah, but he was so into me, you know? He just thought I'd never date him. So he went for second best, _you_."

Mary stared at her in horror. "W-what?"

"That's right. Gray only went out with you because he thought I didn't like him. Well, I'm going to tell him sometime and he's going to break up with you. I'm doing it tomorrow afternoon. I'm really sorry, Mary. Gray just never really liked you as much as he liked me. You want him to be happy, right?" Claire was pretty proud of herself, lying so easily. Mary sure believed her.

"B-but Gray would never do something like that! He'd ask you out if he liked you! He's happy now… It's only been a day we've been going out…"

Claire laughed. "Sorry, Mary. I'll see you later." She skipped off merrily.

One day of having a boyfriend and already there was drama.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Mary couldn't, and didn't believe Claire. Claire _had_ asked Gray out, right in front of Mary, and he turned her down. But Gray would never be cruel enough to break Mary's heart right there. But then he kissed her.

This was all too confusing for the poor librarian. She decided, in the end, Claire was lying and she should just ignore the whole thing.

Maybe she should be safe and ask Gray about it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As the door to the library opened, Mary looked up from her work to see a rather happy looking Gray as he came over to peck her on the cheek. Smiling, Mary looked up at him.

"Is there a reason you're so happy?" She asked, the place where he kissed her feeling warm.

"No, not really. Just happy to see you." He replied, settling down with a book he started earlier that week.

"Gray? Can I ask you something?"

He looked up at her, and seeing the worry in her eyes smiled reassuringly. "What is it?"

"I… uh, yesterday, when Claire was walking home with me…"

Gray's face fell slowly as she spoke. _Claire? What did Claire do? _

"She told me you liked her better than you liked me… and that… you… and Claire… were going to…"

Gray stood and closed that space between them and pulled Mary up from where she was sitting into a hug.

Mary was silent as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Mary, I thought you'd know by now you're the only one for me. You can't believe what Claire says, okay?"

Gray blushed from his boldness. It just seemed right to take Mary in his arms. He had never done anything so brave in his life, other than kissing her. Gray was unaware, but Mary was bringing out a part of Gray that he never knew he even had.

When the two pulled apart, Mary turned pink and pushed her glasses up her nose as Gray adjusted his hat and blushed, too.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As time passed, the librarian and the blacksmith became quite close. They went to the festival at Mother's Hill and watched the moon rise, they drank hot cocoa together as the weather became colder, and they exchanged all sorts of gifts. When Gray's birthday came Mary gave him some new books.

Claire had finally given up and went chasing after a seemingly impossible bachelor, the Kappa. The two of them were in love, divine or not.

On Winter Thanksgiving, Gray slaved over a stove for what seemed like forever to make the perfect batch of cookies for Mary. When he presented the lumps of chocolate, flour, and sugar, Mary laughed and they ate the cookies together.

The holidays of winter went by as Gray and Mary expressed their love for each other.

It wasn't until spring until Gray was standing; the money he saved up for the past month in his pocket, staring at something he never imagined himself to be staring at.

The blue feather.

The life changer. The thing that would bind a man and woman together forever.

And he was going to buy it.

As he purchased the thing and headed out, he shoved the change in his pocket, and then shoved the feather in there too, wondering whether he'd muster up enough courage to pull it out again.

But when he entered the library that spring afternoon, his hand went directly to his pocket. _Do it now, just give it to her. You know what she'll say._

_Fine,_ he thought back, _but I'm not going down on one knee. _

Mary looked up at him, smiling like she does for him every day. "Hello, Gray!"

Gray smiled back, nervous. Might as well do it now. "Listen, Mary."

She looked up at him, curious. The brown eyes were staring into his blue ones, noticing his anxiety.

"I-I have to ask you something. It can't wait." Gray said, trying not to stumble over his words.

She nodded, putting her pen down. She folded her hands on her desk.

Gray pulled the feather out and dropped it on her desk, breaking eye contact. "Will you marry me?" he said quietly.

Mary lifted the feather before she stood up and slammed into Gray, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him full on the lips. Gray took that as a yes.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

One week later they were married. Only family was invited, so there was a crowd of three people and Carter, who married them. The ceremony was fast and beautiful. The two returned to the library, where the upstairs was renovated to be a one-floor house for the two of them. The downstairs was expanded to be the full library. This was all thanks to Gotz, who magically finished all this within a week.

Mary had busied herself with decorating and organizing everything, while Gray helped Gotz construct all this.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Two seasons later Mary was sitting in the bathroom, sick. Peaking out the door, she saw Gray trying to make toast, and failing at it. She withdrew to throw up again. She never has morning sickness, and she was two weeks late for her period. That only meant one thing and she was trying to figure out how to tell Gray.

Of course, she was putting it off. But she knew she had to tell him sooner or later.

"Gray?" she said. Her husband turned at the sound of his name and walked over to the bathroom. Mary was on the floor, speaking through the slightly open door. Her glasses were on the floor next to her. She reached up to flush the toilet before looking at him. Wordless, she placed her hand on her stomach and looked up at him, putting her glasses on. "I think… I mean, I'm kind of… _pregnant_."

Gray half-fainted before he looked at his wife, swallowing. "H-how? I mean, why? I mean…"

Mary looked up at him. "Don't you… want a baby?"

Gray smiled. "Of course I do. It's just… unexpected. I thought we would have a… baby when we are a little… older, you know? I mean, we're only twenty…"

Mary smiled back at him. "But Gray, it's _our_ baby. Ours, no one else's."

"I guess you're right. But I'm taking you to the doctor's, just in case."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Mary was right. She was pregnant.

And it showed awhile later, when she was just getting over morning sickness.

"Gray!" she was near screaming. "GRAY!"

"What? What happened?"

"Look!" she said, lifting her shirt and standing at an angle, where you could see a small bump. Gray placed his hand there, smiling.

"There's our baby." He said.

"It sure is." Mary whispered.

It was weeks, months before Mary's bump grew to an extremely large size.

"Look at me! I'm huge!" she would say. Then when the baby kicked, she'd jump, run to Gray and say, "The baby did it again! It kicked!"

Gray would smile and find his wife's mood swings strange. One second she'd be laughing about how the baby was moving, the next saddened about how fat and uncomfortable she felt.

But the day of the birth came around, and Mary got out of bed in the middle of the night because her water broke and it was time.

The two rushed to the clinic, where Mary gave birth to a baby girl. They decided to give her the name Grace.

"She's healthy enough to take her home tomorrow morning, if you are prepared for it." Doctor Trent said. Mary nodded, to preoccupied with Grace to notice. Gray leaned forward, taking the newborn in his arms when Mary was getting tired. Mary smiled up at him when Trent turned to return to his office.

"It's our baby, our baby." She said.

"I know." Gray smiled at the sleeping baby, who had dark bits of hair and blue eyes. A perfect mix of both parents. A perfect baby to both parents.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**A/N: That's the end! I hope you liked it! : ) **


End file.
